Beauty in Pain
by Queen Eli
Summary: "There's something about him that's keeping me up at night, making my stomach feel like it's turned to mush and making me feel like when I try to talk, nothing comes out but gibberish." Luck agrees to watch Dallas for Eve while she goes away for a business trip, and finds that much has changed within the man. Their relationship grows.
1. March, 1935

**Summary: **_"__There's something about him that's keeping me up at night, making my stomach feel like it's turned to mush and making me feel like when I try to talk, nothing comes out but gibberish."_ Luck agrees to watch Dallas for Eve while she goes away for a business trip, and finds that much has changed within the man. Their relationship grows.

_[__**March, 1935**__]_

"I know this is much to ask of you, Mister Gandor, but if you could please watch my brother Dallas for me for a few months then I would be very happy." The young girl in front of him, Eve Genoard, bowed her head as she spoke, not meeting Luck Gandor's eyes. "And of course, there would be monetary compensation for you! I don't expect you to do something like this for free."

"Why exactly is it that you want me to watch your brother?" Luck leaned back in the chair behind the desk he was sitting at, watching the girl fidget in her seat through lidded golden eyes. Although Luck was no fan of her elder brother, Dallas, and Eve knew that, he was willing to hear her out, at least. He didn't like Dallas, but he liked Eve; he reminded her of what he could have been, had he not become a mafioso.

"Well, the Runoratas are still after him, and he's much too skittish to be anywhere else," Eve explained. "And—don't tell him I said this—I don't trust him to be on his own. I know that you and your brothers will take good care of him." Luck inhaled sharply as he leaned forward again, folding his hands on his desktop. Eve was looking straight at him now, her cerulean eyes wide with hope and innocence. Dammit. There it was again.

"Alright." He agreed, nodding his head. "Alright. I'll do it. We can discuss payment later, once I can judge how much he'll cost us." It took all of his self-control and restraint not to call Dallas a filthy mutt, or trash, reminding himself that Eve thought very highly of him. And, at least for now, he didn't feel like making Eve upset with him.

At his words, Eve smiled, bowing her head once in appreciation before she stood, exchanging a few more words with Luck about her brother's tendencies, before she left the room, quietly shutting the door behind her. Sighing, Luck leaned back in his chair, rubbing at his eyes wearily with his fingers. His brothers were right.

He'd really become too soft.

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**Well, here I am with yet another story. Yes, I know, I am highly irresponsible, off writing another fanfic when I can barely finish the ones that I already have, but I couldn't hold back the plot bunny for this one and it kind of grew. I have a very interesting plot in mind for this story, so be on the lookout for more chapters. Don't forget to review, please! I love reviews, and they don't necessarily have to be "perfect!", if you think I can do something better, then please, don't hesitate to tell me.**


	2. April, 1935

[**_April, 1935_**]

Dallas was fine until Eve left. Once she was gone, he ran up into the guest room, locked the door and refused to come out. Luck didn't see much of him the first week because of that, and it got him thinking. He knew that Dallas probably wouldn't want anything to do with him, that he'd dredge up bad memories, but he had no idea how deep his emotional scars really were. How terrified Dallas truly was of the man. Luck almost let it bother him, but he forgot about it soon enough. It wasn't his problem, he reminded himself, Dallas had brought this on himself. He deserved it. What didn't he deserve at that point, anyway? Besides any kind of mercy or compassion, of course.

On the ninth night that Dallas was there, a thunderstorm blew in. It was a really bad one, one of the worst ones that summer. Every few seconds, a bolt of lightning would illuminate the apartment Luck stayed in (when he wasn't with his brothers, of course), and thunder would boom somewhere far off, somewhere nearby, and the rain would drum endlessly on the roof. Luck didn't care, he hadn't been scared of thunderstorms since he was a boy, but when he went upstairs to attempt to get some sleep, he found that the door to the guest room was open and Dallas was gone. Curious as to where he'd went, since the rain had muffled any noise from upstairs, Luck snooped around upstairs until he came into the bathroom in his room, where Dallas was curled up in the space between the toilet and the bathtub, his shaking visible from where Luck stood in the doorway. Whenever the lightning would flash, Dallas would give a pitiful whimper, his body going tense when the thunder crashed, and then relaxing again for a few seconds.

"What are you doing?" Luck finally brought himself to ask. Dallas's nervous cobalt blue eyes flickered over to him for a moment, and then he looked away quickly.

"Go away, I'm fine." Dallas trembled slightly more now, and Luck walked over, sitting on the edge of the bathtub. The reddish-brown haired man flinched again as lightning illuminated the dingy room, his fingernails cutting into the fabric of his shirt as he held onto himself. "I can deal with it by myself."

"Well, you're in my bathroom," Luck stated. He was looking straight at Dallas, but he refused to return his gaze. "So I can't just leave you, now can I?" Dallas's throat was dry as he swallowed, and Luck put a hand on his shoulder. He tensed up, afraid, too afraid to do anything but keep staring at the floor, forcing himself not to meet Luck's eyes, not to respond. The pain was visible through his body language. Luck didn't need to see his face to know that he had been (still was) crying.

"Still hurts," Dallas barely murmured, and Luck made a soft hum in response, light and slow, in the back of his throat.

"I know."

"Ya' don't care?"

"I do."

"Don't act like it."

"But I do."

Dallas fell silent. Luck's hand moved down his arm and gripped Dallas's hand in his own, letting the other man squeeze his as the terror from being touched by Luck was replaced with his fear of the rain. The rainstorm was starting to stop, however, the drumming on the roof becoming a bit dimmer. The lightning wasn't flashing nearly as often now, and the thunder was getting farther and farther away. The storm had nearly passed, and Dallas started to relax. Soon, his shaking had stopped, and Dallas let go of Luck's hand, letting his arms fall limply to his side. His fright had made him exhausted, and he looked over at Luck with lidded eyes.

"Can I...go back to my room?"

"Go ahead. I won't stop you." His exhaustion was apparent, and when Dallas stood, his legs shook, and he had to lean against the wall to keep from falling over. As he was leaving, Dallas paused in the doorway, leaning on the side of the door. His last few words were so soft that Luck had to strain to hear them.

"Thank you."

It would be many, many more months before Dallas finally trusted Luck completely, but at least, in that moment, he trusted him enough to thank him.

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**Okay this is actually a oneshot I wrote last year that I cleaned up so I could post it here for this chapter, since I thought it would work well here. If you liked it, please send me a review!**


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